Hosiery.



R..W. SCOTT.

HOSIERY.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25. 19M.

Patented 15ml. 2,1917.

WITNESsEs INVENTDR ROBERT .W sc

BY Hit? ATTORNEY ROBERT W. SCOTT, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB TSCOTT 86 WILLI IAMS, INCORPORATED, OF CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, A QORPORA TIONOF NEW JERSEY.

HOSIERY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan.2,1917. Y

Application filed May 26, 191.4. Serial No. 841,027.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, RoennrW. Soon, a citizenof the United States, residing in Boston, Massachusetts, have inventedcertain Improvements in Hosiery, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to that class of stock- I.

heel and toe, the ribbed leg of the stocklng ings which have a ribbedleg portion extend ing down over the instep, (this term usuallyincluding the top of the'foot down to the toe) and plain heel, sole andtoe portions, the object of my invention being to provide a moreacceptable stocking of this type than has heretofore been produced. Thisobject I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth, reference being hadto the accompanying drawing, in which-- Figure l is a representation ofa stocking made in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a horizontalsection illustrating the needle cylinder member of a rib knitt ngmachine for producing my improved stocking, and Fig. 3 is a sectionalplan view illustrating the dial member of such inag chine. V

In the ordinary rib stocking seamless foot, as such stocking is madetoday, it is customary to knit the leg portion upon a rib knittingmachine and the foot portion upon another machine which producesplainweb and is capable of knitting the heels and toes automatically, theribbed leg portion being either run upon the needles of the footingmachine or transferred there- 5 to by means of a transfer ring. In anysuch case, however, the ribbed leg portion contains more wales than thefoot portion because suiiicient elasticity is not secured where the.number of wales in the ribbed and 4o plain portions coincide.

The so-called, doubling of stitches which takes place in transferringthe stitches of the ribbed web to the needles of the plain footingmachine adds greatly to the labor and expense in the production of suchstockmp5s and in the knitting machine shown 1n having a.

I have determined the worn thestocking is unsightly because of;

even Where the transfer was effected auto- I matically upon the machineabove referred to the operation was a delicate one and called.foranicety ofadjustment which it was difiicult to. maintain. q

It has been proposed to knit afstock ng with ribbed leg and instep andplain sole;

being started at the top with a two-and rib and the character of' therib in the I of the leg being gradually changedf two-and-one rib tone-and-jonerib by first} knitting 'a number of courses of-two-and onej jrib, then transferring stitches from certain of the double Wale ribsinto'adjoining single 7 Wale ribs, then knitting a number of courses.with this new arrangement, then transferr ring stitches from certainother of the double Wale ribs to adjoining single Wale ribs andcontinuing such operation during the formation of the leguntil by thetime the ankle portion of the stocking is reached 'tion of the heel,sole and toe of the stocking in plain web upon the cylinder needles.Even in the production of such a stocking, however, the objectionabledoubling" of.

stitches is necessary. 4

In order to overcome, these objections I proceed as follows: Instead ofthe needle carriers being cut uniformly as usual. I cut one-half of thecylinder. and dial so that,

in knitting ribbed Web, a closerdisposition of the stitches is permittedaround one half of the web than around the other half, the

needle carriers being so set up inthe machine that the front of theribbed leg and the instcp'will be of finer gage than the rear of theleg. l I

fact that here a 1M tubular ribbed fabric is produced with needlecarriers cut as above described and yarn of a given number or weight isemployed, the resulting fabric, particularly after be-, I ing passedthrough the dyeing process tends to justify itself, that is to say, itpresents no material dilference' in appearane'eas between the twohalvesthereon] Referring to Fig; 2,"which is a'diagr'am" illustrating thecutting of thecylinder cra circular knitting machine such as that ofequipped with a needle for coeperation with the sixty-five needlescontained in the segment w of the dial, and while, throughout thesegment :1 of the cylinder, every one of the ninety slots containedtherein will be equipped with a needle, only every other one of theseneedles will be active in rib knitting, and will cooperate with theforty-five needles around the segment y of the dial, so that in knittingthe leg of the stocking there will be one-hundred and thirty wales inthe fine gage front of said leg and ninety wales in the coarser gagerear half of the same, such ribbed fabric being of oneandone rib typethroughout.

The welt a being first formed at the top of the leg, the machineproceeds to knit the leg portion down to the line whereupon auto matictransfer of stitches from the fortyfive needles around thesegment y ofthe dial to the theretofore inactive forty-five needles contained inevery other slot throughout the segment 3 of the cylinder is effected,this transfer requiring no doubling of the stitches and ,beingpreferably made in accordance with the process set forth in my LettersPatent No. 830,373, dated Septen'iber 4, 1906. At the same-time alighter yarn is'preferably substituted for the relatively heavy yarnused in knitting the ribbed leg portion. and the knitting operation isthen proceeded with, ribbed web being produced upon the one-hundred andthirty needles contained in the segment m of the cylinder and segment a"of the dial and plain web upon the ninety needles contained in thesegment g of the cylinder.

At or about the point 0 a reinforcing yarn is preferably added tothicken the heel and the knitting of the heel is then proceeded withupon the needles contained in the segment 3 of the cylinder, the needlesin the segment as of the cylinder and in the segrnent 0: of the dialbeing temporarily put out of action but retaining their stitches andbeing brought into action again when the knitting of the heel has beencompleted, so

as to proceed with. the knitting of the foot of-the stocking with ribbedtop and plain sole, after which the knitting of the toe upon the needlescontained in the segment 31' of the cylinder is effected, the toebeing-also thickened if desired by the addition of reinforcing yarnduring the knitting of the an same, or such reinforcin varie after beingintroduced at the point c, being permitted to remain during the knittingof the heel,

sole and toe so as to thicken all of these members of the stocking, orsuch reinforcing yarn being introduced at the point I) if it is desiredto produce what is termed a high spliced heel.

The same yarns which are employed in knitting the high spliced andthickened heel,

sole and toe of the stocking may be employcd in knitting the ribbedweb'of the ankle and instep, or the reinforcingv yarn may be fed only tothe needles of the segment 3 of the cylinder in knitting the highsplice, and the heel, sole and toe.

As there are, in knitting the heel, sole and toe, never more than ninetyneedles in action as against one-hundred and thirty employed in knittingthe ribbed fabric comprising the front of the leg and the instep, Isecure a comparatively coarse fabric in the heel, sole and toe and canconsequently reinforce these portions and provide comparatively heavyfabric therein, or in any one or more of said parts, while stillpreserving the desired narrow foot and ankle portion of the stocking,the ribbed web in the front of the ankle and instep being materiallycontractile, by virtue hf its elasticity, so that I am enabled toproduce a stocking which has ample room and elasticity in the leg andankle portion, a heel, sole and toe sufficiently coarse and heavy towithstand the greater wear to I which they are subjected, and an instepportion which tends\to contract the foot and presents an unbroken areaof the same char acter of fabric as that of which the leg composed.

It will be apparent that if an even diri."

sion of the needles in the needle carriers was used and an attempt wasmade to in troduce heavy yarns in the heel, sole and toe portions of thestocking the foot of the stocking -would be entirely too Wide for theother portions and if yarn of proper weight to suit the gage wasemployed the foot-por tion would, under like circumstances be too lightand too thin to properly resist the wear to which these portions of thestocking are subjected.

I claim:

-1. A seai'nless stocking having a ribbed leg portion with uniform typeof rib throughout but with a coarser gage in the rear half than in thefront half due toa lessernumber of wales in the rear half than in thefront half.

2. A seamless stocking having leg andin step portions of ribbed fabric,and heel, sole and toe of plain fabric, the type of ribbed web beinguniform throughout but being of coarser gage in the rear portion of theleg than in the front of the leg and instep due to a lesser number ofwales in the rear half than in the front half 3. A seamless stockinghaving leg and instep portions composed of ribbed Web,'and heel, soleand toe of plain Web, the ribbed web being of uniform type throughoutbut the rear portion of the leg being of coarser gage than the frontportion and instep due to a lesser number of Wales in the rear half thanin the front-half, and the plain Web having reinforced portions.

4. A seamless stocking having leg and instep portions of ribbed fabric,and heel, sole and toe of plain fabric, the type of ribbed iveh beinguniform throughout but being of coarser gage in the rear portion of theleg than in the front of the leg and instep due to a lesser number ofWales in the rear half than in the front half and the )lein fabric ofthe heel, sole and toe having a lesser number of wales than the ribbedfabric of the front of the leg and lnstep.

I front of the leg and instep, and being composed of heavier yarn.

In testimony whereof, I have slgned; my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ROBERT W. SCOTT.

lvitnesses i RoBnR'rC. CHILD, MARY F. GRIFFIN.

